Geroy Simon can expect lots of media (and fan) attentionon Friday, Oct. 4, when he’s scheduled to make his first appearance at BC Place as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The 2013 CFL schedule was released on Tuesday, drawing more than its usual publicity, considering it took two to three weeks longer than normal to announce. Still, it brings us that much closer to the start of training camps, which now are less than three months away (June 2).

With B.C. Lions fans starting to circle must-see matchups on the calendar, here are our picks for games the Vancouver Sun finds especially intriguing:

June 28 (Friday, 7 p.m.) — It’s payback time for the Lions, in their league opener at McMahon Stadium. The Stampeders embarrassed the Lions 34-29 (the score was misleading) in the 2012 West Division final at BC Place, feasting off the late-season competitive erosion of a Lions team that clinched first place on Oct. 19 and didn’t play another meaningful game until a month later.

July 4 (Thursday, 7 p.m.) — Every year, the Seattle Seahawks recognize their fans north of the border with “Canada Day” at CenturyLink Field, with youth football teams and marching bands from B.C. taking part and O Canada on the anthem sheet. This would be a good opportunity for the Lions to reciprocate on Independence Day — which coincides with B.C.’s home opener — against the Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts.

July 30 (Tuesday, 4:30 p.m.) — Argos played a preseason home game on a Tuesday last year, when they opened the doors to 36,000 fans, most of them school kids. But a Lions-Argos regular-season game on a Tuesday is definitely weird. The Blue Jays wrap up a series on July 28 and it takes 36-46 hours for turf conversion to football at Rogers Centre. The unfortunate scheduling forces the Lions to play just five days later, at home, vs. Winnipeg.

August 22 (Thursday, 4:30 p.m.) — Lions are in Montreal for the first of two games against the Alouettes in the swan song season for quarterback Anthony Calvillo. B.C.-Montreal games are usually full-on, last-possession-decides-it affairs in the Eastern time zone — unlike the West Coast, where the Alouettes habitually devolve into doormats. Montreal returns the visit here on Sept. 15, for a Sunday 1:30 p.m. kickoff.

September 7 (Saturday, 1 p.m.) — B.C. makes its first and only scheduled appearance at Alumni Stadium in Guelph, Ont., the temporary home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats following the demolition of Ivor Wynne Stadium. A notoriously good place — Guelph was ranked by Moneysense Magazine as one of Canada’s most livable cities — Guelph is home to Sleeman Breweries, which should interest Lions of legal drinking age.

September 27 (Friday, 5 p.m.) — The Lions make their first-ever visit to Investors Group Field — the new home of the Blue Bombers — more than a year after it was supposed to be ready. Plagued by construction delays, the stadium has become a money pit, one reason that the Lions are likely to be awarded the 2014 Grey Cup game because the Bombers aren’t in financial shape to handle it.

October 4 (Friday, 7 p.m.) — It’s a long wait — Game No. 14 — before Geroy Simon finally makes his anticipated homecoming to BC Place as a member of the Roughriders. ‘Rider Nation will be out in force, as usual. But the presence of “Superman” Simon in a green and white cape figures to make it an extra special evening, not only for fans but the Lions’ ticketing department.

November 1 (Friday, 7 p.m.) — Book-ended by Calgary at the start and finish of the regular season, the Lions play the Stampeders four times — more than any other club. If past is prologue, first place in the West could be in doubt until the final gun in Game No. 18. Wouldn’t you want to see John Hufnagel leaving in a huff, as he did at the recent coach of the year luncheon in Regina?

November 24 (Sunday, 3:30 p.m.) — 101st Grey Cup game in Regina. Good luck getting a hotel room. The Saskatchewan capital (193,000) has a smaller population than Burnaby (227,000) and limited fan accommodation, if the Lions make it to the big game, was spoken for months ago. You might have to construct your own “ice hotel” — or crash on your cousin’s couch in Moose Jaw.

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